HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-01-10-TREE-minTown of Lexington
Lexington Tree Committee Minutes
January 10, 2013
A meeting of the Lexington Tree Committee was held on January 10, 2013, 7:30 -10:00
a.m. at the Samuel Hadley Public Services Building, Room 125. A quorum of five was
present.
Members Present: Chris Filadoro (Superintendent of Public Grounds) John Frey (chair),
Karen Longeteig, Gerry Paul, Anne Senning, Jim Wood
Members Absent: Deborah Mauger (Selectman Liaison), Jewel Kuljian, Nell Walker
Guests: Jane Beswick (Friends of Trees)
The meeting acted on the following items:
1. Karen Longeteig was appointed as scribe, and the Minutes of the meeting of
December 13, 2012, were approved with two minor corrections.
2. Tercentennial Tree Medallion sales: slow but steady; the Visitor's Center sold 10
and asked for more. A donation to the Tree Fund was made at the DPW front desk; John
Frey will get some Committee stationery to Karen Longeteig who will write a thank -you.
Future venues should include the Musket Ball, the League of Women Voters' meeting on
February 26 Town Meeting in March. It was suggested we offer them at the Clerk's
Office in Town Hall. Karen will follow up.
3. Tree Management Manual: error -free 3 rd edition has now been published. Anne
Senning, who spearheaded the project, gave each TC member a copy. Dave
Pinsonneault, Operations Manager, has asked that they be sold for $10 instead of $5, to
better recoup printing costs. Anne will send Karen a .pdf file to be posted on the website,
and will write a short PR item for the Minuteman outlining the changes in the new
edition.
4. Tree Warden items: Announcements: (i) Chris Filadoro announced that during
snow plowing at the city lot, one of the Sourwoods had been "leaned over" by a boulder
of snow. They will attempt to straighten it today. (ii) There is a Massachusetts Tree
Warden meeting in Sturbridge, January 14- 15 -16, which is useful; any TC member could
Ro. a.
Bylaw tree removal applications and activit
Total calls
890
Total closed
705
Total inches to remove
9062
Total removed
1903
Total inches to plant
3219
Total planted
1883
Chris said he is averaging 80 to 90 sites per year, which yields a steady stream of income
into the Tree Fund for our planting projects. On the question of whether the
Conservation Commission takes precedence over the Tree Committee, Chris said the
answer is "no ". The CC may put a special Order of Conditions on the site, but the Tree
Bylaw still holds.
Chris also noted the lag in the "Closed Out" numbers. He will work on closing the gap.
b. Budget/Forestry division additional arborist request: Chris said it had been
approved by the Town Manager. There will probably be some internal shifts of workers.
c. Meeting time /date review: After discussion, it was decided to keep the same
"second Thursday" and 7:30 a.m. time.
d. Tree Bylaw amendment proposal: Selectman Norm Cohen is reviewing our
draft.
e. DigSafe process: postponed.
L GPS training: Anne will follow up.
g. Location for 2013 Arbor Day tree planting: John and Karen will go see
Hastings Park and Clark Street to make recommendation to Garden Club.
h. Info on high school Fitzgerald Field tree - cutting: Postponed to better
weather.
i. Nursery: In a general review of nursery procedures, Chris said he would like to
buy more trees commercially for ordinary street -tree use, and use our nursery for rare and
smaller trees. The reason is to get larger, "landscape- sized" trees for the streets. He said
our nursery tree stock needs to be reviewed and root -bound items composted. After much
discussion the following was moved, seconded and approved unanimously: That Chris
will come back with a strategy, with a chart and numbers, on how to get 130 trees in the
ground for 2013:
i. Evaluate our own nursery; cull and identify stock ready to go out
ii. Order bare -root trees for spring and fall dormancy planting
iii. Order in advance a quantity of balled & burlapped trees to be held
(watered, fed) at a commercial nursery and to be withdrawn as needed, for non - dormant
planting.
John noted that TC members will have to aid Anne in vetting the potential planting sites.
Anne will extract the 265 potential sites so they can be divided up and visited. At Chris's
request, Anne will also write some PR inviting the public to request a street tree planting
in front of their houses. (These could be either street trees or set -back trees, depending
on suitability of sites.)
- Nursery order: Jim said our suppliers couldn't get two of the trees, Maackia
and Cotinus. He will email the list around to rest of Committee to recommend
exact cultivars of the ones that Bailey's does have.
- Species to be planted in nursery this spring: Although species have been
selected and numbers assigned, this may need re- evaluation after Chris comes
back with the Strategy.
- Remaining 5 Colorado Blue Spruce trees heeled in at our nursery (these are
from the holiday barrels in town, last year. John & Karen to check them out.
- Bittersweet cutting: wanting to check out the theory that if you cut bittersweet
in freezing weather, it will not re- sprout, John and Karen volunteered to do just
that at a work session on Friday, January 11.
j. Status of J. & M. Nickles commemorative tree: no action taken.
k. Tree City USA application: no action taken
5. NEPA tree grant: No action taken.
6. Tree Committee /CLC "question" for candidates for office: CLC is handling this for
us.
7. Plan for LWV Climate Change forum: no action taken.
8. Tree "event" proposal for Lex 300: It was decided that a tree walk would be
simplest. Gerry will forward Karen's name to the organizers, as Karen has led tree walks
for the CLC.
9. Commemorative Trees: Jane Beswick distributed a spread sheet with all
Commemorative Trees so far.
There was no remote participation. The meeting was not recorded.
Respectfully submitted, Karen Longeteig, Scribe
Next regular meeting: February 14, 2013, 7:30 a.m. at Samuel Hadley Public
Services Building, Room 125